so a week or so ago i had a pretty bad exaust leak from the previous owner punching a hole in the muffler and it rusted larger... so i just put a pipe there so i could still get to school and back until the new muffler arrived, and sure enough they sent the wrong one... but lately i have to roll the motor over for a couple seconds then let off and then try again and even then it barely coughs to life and i have to rev out the sputtering until it evens out then im fine. granted the o2 sensor is broken but that has been out all winter with no problem... i am really worried it wont start one of these time and i wil be screwed... could it be the result of less back pressure? or just in need of tuning? or fuel pump? any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike

 

It could be a number of things unfortunately. Could just be a coincidence that the hard starts started when the hole was punched... or rather got larger.

My jeep suffers from long crank times, and yes, does not start at times. However, I have no hole where there shouldn't be one in my exhaust.

There are some logical places you can start checking though to make sure you're alright...

Battery charge
Altenator charging
Fuel Pressure
Spark plug fires (functional check; remove sp from head, place on block and crank to see if it fires)
Spark plug gap

Ooh yeah... get that O2 sensor replaced! It's a cheap (relatively speaking) and easy fix. All other checks can be done for free if you're tight on cash.

Good luck!